Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix Movie SPOILERS SPOILERS — Page 3

I don't have a whole lot to add at the moment.
I saw the movie last night and really enjoyed it.
I despise the Chris Columbus films, and feel quite strongly that the movies are their own and try not to do any of the "this was in the book" stuff. I prefer the books, because the stories lend themselves to that medium, but this movie was quite good on its own, and I feel captures the spirit of whimsy and darkness that is the Rowling world.

The acting was quite superior in this film. Daniel, Emma and Rupert are all much better year by year. I also really liked Luna. I would have loved to see the adults do more but I was very happy to be able to see what we did. Staunton Smith and Rickman in particular were spot on as usual. Gambon was less horrible than in Goblet.

I liked the pacing and editing very much, I really didn't like that aspect of Goblet. All of the cuts through the paper and emphasis on the coverup and Harry's dementia were handled quite well.

My big issue was with the battle, I don't think the editing allowed the stakes to be as high as they should have been. It would have been nice to see the death eaters actually show how they are fearful.

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"I want to hear McGonnigal declare that she will do everything in her power to ensure that Harry becomes an auror."

I know, I love that part!
I also wanted to hear her offer Umbridge a cough drop for her stupid little throat clearing! Wahh

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Reading all of these reviews, I feel happy that I've read the book. Otherwise I would end up very confused.

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Maybe they wanted to do their own thing. I still think JK Rowling did a better job of making you really fear for the kid's lives, since by the end of the fight you really thought someone wasn't going to come out okay (and someone didn't).

I wish they had shown Hermione getting knocked out because the movies never show us that Hermione is extremely vulnerable. That really bothers me. Also, I wanted it to come down to Harry and Neville, like in the book, because I'm obsessed with Neville. Still, there's this awesome shot when Harry finds the prophecy. First they show the rest of the group, then they show Harry staring at the prophecy. He pulls it off of the shelf revealing Neville in the background, who then comes into focus. That gave me chills. There was SO much Neville love in this movie.

I think they approximated it pretty well. It's still a scary scene! The Death Eaters were WAY scarier than they are in the books (in the books they come across as sort of ineffectual). Flyin' around all cool like that.

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I was pretty disappointed. I think it mostly had to do with the total lack of narrative structure. I couldn't get past the feeling that it was just a bunch of scenes thrown together. As I watched it, nothing seemed to be affecting each other. Things just...happened. As a huge Harry Potter fan, I know that these things DID affect each other, I'm just saying that I got no sense of that from the film. Things just felt..off, and a bit weird. I'll have to see it again to try and be a bit more specific.

I'm surprised to see so much hatred of the third one, which was by FAR my favorite, although the fourth was also excellent.

POSSIBLE SPOILER FOR THE SEVENTH BOOK:



ComaBaby, I believe Kreacher's role was so small in this film because they wanted to just cut him entirely, but JKR said that would make the seventh film very difficult for them.

END SPOILERS


I do agree that Ron is much more Ron-like in this film. He's got some great tension with Hermione going on already. I'm glad they stopped the pattern of playing his character for laughs.

Staunton and Rickman really stood out for me, acting-wise. Impeccably played.

Unfortunately, since the decision was made not to use Rita Skeeter very early on, the Quibbler interview would have been sort of out of the blue.

OK, actual review:

My friend turned to me as the lights came up and said, "As a movie, this was a fantastic piece of film. As Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it was crap." This is a sentiment I almost agree with. One of the things that I love about OotP(which is something I know a lot of people have trouble with) is how much time Rowling takes to develop every single part of the plot and the characters in it. When I heard that this was going to be the shortest movie of the bunch, I was pretty apprehensive. This made some of the cuts painful for me. Fortunately, I think I've developed enough as a fan to be able to appreciate the movies in their own right, not just as extensions of the books.

I saw this at a midnight (well, 11:59) screening and was expecting to be nodding off at some point. To my surprise, not only was I awake for the whole thing, but I was riveted to the screen. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard or been so shocked or angry at a Potter movie (a theater full of fellow fans added to the fun of this, of course). I loved the touches in the movie that brought it into the real world, such as the radio playing in the common room, which brought home the fact that they're not just wizards and witches, but also normal teenagers. Umbridge, of course, was just fantastic. *spoilerspoiler* When she slapped Harry, pretty much the entire theater roared "Bitch!"
Luna was eerily perfect, though I get a weird sense that she may not be playing too far away from herself. HBC as Bellatrix was interesting;I haven't quite decided whether I liked her or not.

I, unfortunately, have never been much of a fan of Emma Thompson's interpretation of Trelawney, so it was much harder for me to feel sympathy when she was being thrown out of Hogwarts. I'm also getting a little bit tired of Snape's little snippy routine, I actually think that Rickman needs to branch him out more. The inspirational little speeches also need to stop. "What's most important is believing in yourself." Really? Did we need that?

What I'm basically trying to say: True to the book? Not exactly. Great movie? Definitely.

...except for the fact that Hermione was blonde.

"...except for the fact that Hermione was blonde."

I thought I was the only one who was bothered by that! Haha, it was a bit distracting at times, but, heck, it beats that do (or "don't") in Sorcerer's Stone

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Hermione was blonde?

I thought they disposed of Cho Chang as efficiently as Rowling did--actually, I liked the twist in the movie better. It made the break up a little more painful. In the book they just sort of fell apart, and after all that buildup it was disappointing.

I was confused about Umbridge breaking into the room of requirement as well, but it was more dramatic than just having her appear with the signed paper.

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I left the theater after seeing this yesterday not really sure how I felt about it. Since then I haven't stopped thinking about it and am dying to see it again, in IMAX this time. I think they made the right choice in making the movie so very dark. I kind of missed the funnier moments of previous ones, but can appreciate the reasoning behind it. Voldemorts return cast a shadow over everything, and people are aware of it even as they won't admit it because of fear. I would be very interested to see what was cut from the movie. I remember hearing that Warner Bros. demanded 20 minutes be cut to shorten the running time because they were afraid that people were tired of long movies. I think that may have been a mistake. There were a few scenes that seemed rather crudely edited.

Until seeing the fight in the Ministry, it never really registered how truly horrifying some aspects of this story are.
The idea af a group of adults, some of them parents themselves, attempting to kill a bunch of children is not something that can be found in most books sold in the children's department. The world of Harry Potter, with all its silly words and outrageous ideas is at its heart a very scary place.

If the Warners/20 min cut story is true then we may see a 'director's cut' version released on DVD. This may settle some of the criticism some folks have with the film.

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I still have to finish reading the book (I purchased it when it first came out). For some reason I had no problem getting through the first few, but then this one came along and it hasn't been able to hold my attention. I think I missed the last movie installment, too.

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I have to say, I think I enjoyed this Harry Potter film the most since Sorcerer's Stone. Even if things were left out, for the most part, i didnt' miss them. I thought as a film, it worked really well. Of course it's not the book. One can only dream that someday someone will create a month long miniseries of the Harry Potter books.

I loved the scene between Umbridge and McGonagall on the steps. Stepping up and stepping down....brilliant! I also loved the little set up we're getting for the next movie by seeing Ginny's reactions to Harry and Cho, and the constant reinforcement that Ginny is one hell of a witch!

That said, I did miss the rest of the prophecy...especially the part where Harry learns that the whole thing could have been about Neville. I also missed Dumbledore not injuring his hand during his battle with Voldemort. And I know it's not going to change...but would someone please get Voldemort a nose???? I could buy his look when he was still in his weak nearly-human state, but now that he's complete, can he have a nose please? I personally think he'd be scarier as a "real person".